Yes, I’m afraid so. This morning upon leaving my house I noticed a parade of ants marching up the side of my front door. They were smaller than your usual garden ant and some were of the winged variety. Where did these ants come from and what did they want from me? Upon closer examination they appear to be shiroari, otherwise known as termites. Well I wasn’t sure until I did some research and looked at some photos.
This is a termite:
And this is a regular harmless ant:
I need to go back home and examine the creatures under a magnifying glass so I can be absolute certain that they are indeed shiroari. The ones I saw were not white but brown so I may be lucky, however they didn’t have long legs and they were crawling up and down my door frame which happens to be made of wood. If they do turn out to be termites, at least I can milk it for some blog posts. :-(
UPDATE: Came home just now and got out the flashlight. The ants have gone to sleep but there were a few wandering about. These definitely look like normal ants so I can relax a bit. I will have to check again tomorrow morning when the ants are awake.
I had termites when I lived in Santa Barbara. They looked like ants, some with wings. The wings drop off shortly. Termites have a variety of body shapes and forms because they have different types in one colony specializing in different tasks. The ones with big heads seemed to me to be the guards. They build little mud (wood pulp?) “bubbles” over the holes they make to the outside. There is a kind of migration season when tons of them swarm out of the “bubbles,” usually, at first, the flying kind of migrating termite. I had a solid wood cutting board that I discovered they colonized into. They plugged up the holes they made for entrance and exit so you could scarcely tell they were inside the thick cutting board. When I tapped my wall the entire wall vibrated with angry, buzzing termites. My landlady had the structure rebuilt. When the human carpenters broke open the wall there was almost no wood left, just an enormous termite nest engulfing the entire interior of the wall. Good luck. Maybe you will now be forced to move near Soshigaya-Okura and the Ultra Man street. A blessing in disguise?
I wonder if it’s common for homeowners to do prophylactic spraying for termites. Since I’ve never owned a home, I don’t know what sort of hassles are usually involved.
If I were you, Roy, I’d be in a blind panic over the prospect (but I’m a real worrying type). I’m guessing a call to some sort of bug specialist is in order so they can inspect your ants and see if they’re harmless ants or not. Good luck. I’m hoping they’re just trolling for a picnic basket to impress the queen.
How many people read Shari’s comment and envisioned putting a giant condom around Roy’s house? I know… she used it as “preventative” which is fine. but prophylactic -> Roy’s house in a condom… haha, ok. I’m over it. (^_^)
or even better.. Roy in a giant condom spraying for termites..HA!.. sorry..